Blood Price
by flacedice
Summary: Watanuki continues his quest for uninterrupted sex. Set a few weeks after Delicious Blood.
1. Abstinence Sucks

WARNING: Slight blood splatter (okay, and maybe a bit of gore) and Watanuki swearing more (a lot more :) than usual.

xXx

AN: (nervous laughter) Well this certainly turned out longer that I planned. And quite a bit bloodier (but I was working with a request for more violence ;D). Er...maybe you should just read it? (sweatdrop)

Blood Price

I: Abstinence Sucks

It had taken a lot of time and patience but Watanuki had found it. Doumeki's weakness.

Maple syrup.

Watanuki couldn't understand why the lug didn't have a mouth full of cavities but it was also a mystery why Doumeki wasn't fat from all the vast quantity of food he inhaled on a regular basis. It simply seemed that the laws of the universe didn't apply to him.

Figured.

But at the moment Watanuki was glad of it. He didn't even mind that he had a patch of the stuff sticking hair to his ear or that a trickle of it had dried down the side of his waist. He certainly didn't mind the fact that Doumeki was currently sucking his fingers to get the last of it.

As far as Watanuki was concerned, Doumeki could suck his fingers all night.

Well, maybe not just his fingers...

There was a muffled sound from the apartment door.

Doumeki's tongue stilled its leisurely search and his eyes slowly slid towards the front door.

There was no repeat sound and Watanuki impatiently twitched his fingers to get the other man's attention. It took a moment but Doumeki soon returned to his self-appointed task.

Watanuki allowed himself a smug smile.

It had been three weeks without interruption. Three glorious weeks where Watanuki had been able to drag Doumeki into the bedroom without fear of interruption. The bedroom, the bathroom, the couch in the lounge room, the corridor...It had been a long time and Watanuki was making the best of it.

The bow was still in arm's reach (Doumeki's paranoia couldn't be totally overcome so easily) but Watanuki didn't mind that so much when the archer was pretty much ignoring it in favour of other things. And it wasn't such a dampener on the situation, anyway. Watanuki had to admit that the more violent side of his lover - brought vividly to mind by the sight of the bow - was rather stimulating in a way.

Today it was the kitchen. Watanuki had been making breakfast when Doumeki had wandered in after his morning shower. A glance at still-wet hair and clothes made damp by the water that still beaded his skin and Watanuki decided that the pancakes could wait.

Somewhere along the way the maple syrup had become involved. Watanuki had protested somewhat as the sticky liquid had been poured over his chest. But when Doumeki had begun to tidy up the mess, chasing the runnels that travelled lower, Watanuki had decided to just go with the flow. He could stand a little mess if it led to _this_.

Now, half an hour later, smears of maple syrup had dried on the cupboards and floor, creating sticky patches that caught at bare skin. Half sprawled on the floor with Doumeki half-lying on him, Watanuki began eyeing the bottle of maple syrup. With admirable foresight he'd replaced the lid before they could knock the bottle over. Now lying on its side, Watanuki could see that there was about half a bottle left.

Just enough.

Maybe he could get Doumeki to make that addictive guttural groan again.

Watanuki reached back and picked up the bottle.

CRASH!

Glass fragments and syrup fanned out in sparkling spread. Watanuki had a good view of it because the force of Doumeki's sudden rise pushed him back onto the floor.

Watanuki pulled himself up with a familiar sense of resignation. Not even the sight of Doumeki's maple-smeared arse rapidly disappearing through the kitchen doorway could cheer him. The bow, of course, was gone too.

Moments later there was a tingle of glass as the front door was wrenched open. From the lack of explosions, however, it seemed that the vamp that had attempted to enter the apartment had finally come to its senses and fled.

Or maybe it had just Doumeki's angry presence and fled.

Either way, it looked like the holiday was over. The effect of the tattoo winding down his arm had stopped and they hadn't even found the next payment to get it renewed.

Crap.

xXx

Watanuki was cleaning up the broken glass when Doumeki got out of the shower for the second time that morning. The process was taking a long time - Watanuki had learned the hard way that even the smallest puncture could draw the unwelcome attention of certain vamps. And now, after this morning's attempt, he wasn't taking chances. He had to collect every fragment without cutting himself, something that was made ten times difficult by the wide puddle maple syrup the shards were imbedded in.

"There was no warning?"

I don't think that there's a dog that warns of imminent sexual deprivation. "No." You bastard.

Watanuki was still somewhat upset about the interrupted syrup session.

He forcefully pushed the mass of glass and maple syrup into the dustpan he held flush to the floor. A brush was useless in such a situation and he was using a ruler to scoop the stuff up. It got most of the glass but there were still streaks of sticky liquid left behind.

Stupid syrup.

A large hand on his shoulder stopped him mid-scoop.

Watanuki looked up to see Doumeki, fully-clothed, standing over him. There was none of the languorous regard that had been so prevalent earlier that morning. He was back to the no-nonsense determined manner that was all-too familiar.

"Go have a shower."

Not 'join me in the shower' but 'go have a shower'. Watanuki's heart felt like lead. Depressed he simply got up from the folded towel he had been kneeling on and silently made his way to the bathroom, leaving the archer to deal with the mess.

He was going to have a shower. A warm shower.

Unfortunately he didn't need a cold one.

xXx

About twenty minutes later, the kitchen was clean once more and the two men were out on the street. They were dressed in their usual travel gear and Doumeki carried his bow, quiver and a pack slung over his shoulder. Himawari met them soon after they had left the apartment. One quick phone call and she had hurried across the city to join them.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Himawari giggled when she saw them. "I see that you've been getting some quality time together."

Watanuki scowled and tried to pull the sleeves of his jacket down over his wrists. However, there was nothing he could do to hide the studded leather collar round his neck.

It hadn't been his idea to wear the things. Doumeki had cornered him as soon as he emerged from the shower.

"Put these on." Doumeki had blocked the doorway, preventing his escape.

Watanuki had gazed at the jumble of leather in Doumeki's arms with a mixture of disbelief and irritation. _Where is he getting all this? Does he have a hidden stash or something?_

The other man had taken his surprise for refusal. Doumeki's eyes had narrowed, "You can either put them on or I'll do it for you."

Suffice to say that Watanuki now wore a great deal more leather than he was comfortable with. At this rate his reputation as a free man was going to go down the toilet. He gave Himawari a twitch of lips that was more of a grimace than a smile and changed the subject by suggesting they be on their way.

He wanted to be seen by as few people as possible.

Now the three of them made their way to the borderlands. A few shadows stirred in the alleys and amongst the ruin of old buildings but most kept their distance. With Himawari and Doumeki at his sides, Watanuki was a tempting morsel that had just enough thorns to make them think twice.

Aside from a few downcast glances at Doumeki, Watanuki ignored the ripple of their passage. He'd had vamps trailing him his whole life. It was really the past few weeks that had been the anomaly.

He tried to fight his disgruntlement with that realization for the rest of the way to the borderlands.

The white dog materialized when they neared their destination. Watanuki took the lead and guided them to the right spot. Within moments the portal began to materialize and the white dog sat back on its haunches, mouth hanging open in a canine grin.

The widening portal formed before them, a swirling tunnel of dark shadows and streamers of light.

Watanuki looked at the dog again. White. It's slightly curved tail wagging gently from side to side.

Suddenly the interruption earlier in the morning was a minor setback. A problem that could be solved. Watanuki found himself filling with optimism. They'd get whatever the witch wanted (never mind they didn't know what it was) give it to her (the dog would show them the way) and get back to the apartment and what was left of the maple syrup (there had to be some somewhere).

Watanuki smiled at his companions. "Here we go then." Doumeki barely gave him a glance, checking his bow and fiddling with one of his arrows. But Himawari gave him one of her enthusiastic smiles. With her happy enthusiasm it was easy to believe that it was all going to go smoothly for once.

The portal moved forward and sucked them in.

xXx

Watanuki's good humour had fully reasserted soon after they reached their destination. A new world was alway a cause of interest and the lure of new items to trade was enough to have him striding eagerly ahead, eyes peeled for a bargain.

The world which they had been taken to was familiar in its basic structure. Like many of those they had encountered in the past, it seemed that their immediate surroundings were created primarily for trade. They had arrived at the end of a wide paved road that had numerous brightly coloured stalls set up to either side. A myriad of strangely costumed people and alien creatures strolled up the avenue, peering at the goods laid out on cloth-covered tables.

No one spared a second look at the new arrivals and Watanuki could only guess that portal travellers were not an uncommon sight.

He started feeling somewhat better about the studded leather round his neck and wrists. He didn't think it had the same meaning here as it did back in the city.

Himawari smiled brightly once she had taken a good look at their surroundings. "There are a lot of rare things here. I have no doubt that we will find what we need to allow you two to have some private time." She beamed.

"Yeah." Watanuki's smile bravely persevered. It wasn't that it was a secret why he was doing this. It was just that he didn't want the big lug to get any ideas. He was difficult enough to handle as it was.

A glance to Doumeki showed that the other man hadn't been paying any attention to the conversation. Bow held tightly in his hand, Doumeki was doing his best impression of an over-protective Doberman. An effective impression to judge by the way various individuals seemed to turn aside whenever they reached the trio.

"Do you have any idea of where to start?" Himawari continued cheerfully as if the whole outing was just a shopping expedition.

But the question brought his mind back to their purpose, which seemed the cue that the white dog had been waiting for. Long tail held high in a curve over it's back, the invisible dog started out ahead of then, obviously with some goal in mind.

Watanuki nodded in the direction it was heading. "That way."

xXx

"What about an eye?" The gnarled being peered closer. "Either one would do. Dark blue." Doumeki tensed as the creature leaned in to stare up at Watanuki's face. "Such an unusual shade."

The dog had led them to a slightly shabby tent set up on one of the side streets leading off from the main avenue. It had disappeared almost as soon as they had arrived after nosing at a dark black bag that lay slumped on the table set just outside the tent's entrance.

It was only seconds later that the proprietor, a gnarled little grey creature that looked humanoid in all but size and the number of wrinkles it bore, came out to greet them. Within moments the three of them had been ushered inside the tent and shown more of the wares that were on offer. Watanuki had viewed several items carefully before coming round to the bag that had caught the white dog's attention. It was then that the real negotiations had begun.

And Doumeki had been growing steadily incensed when the direction of the bargaining became clear.

The creature's bright eyes darted to the archer who was fingering his bow. "Or gold. Very unusual."

Watanuki didn't like the way the vendor was eyeing Doumeki. "No eyes."

"Are you sure?" The creature sounded wistful. "You could always share an eye." An evil glint entered its eyes. "It could make sex interesting."

There was a short awkward silence.

"Tempting as that offer is," Watanuki intervened before Doumeki could reply in a more violent fashion. "We're not really interested in trading our eyes or anybody else's."

He glanced at the dog. It had reappeared once the bargaining had begun. It was now looking at him, jaw hanging open and tongue lolling out. An idea suddenly occurred to him and it began to wave its tail double-time.

"But we do have some very interesting blood we might be willing to trade." He ignored Doumeki's suddenly intense stare and concentrated on the sudden gleam in the little goblin's eyes.

"Blood," it said, trying not to seem too eager. "It would have to be very special."

Watanuki allowed himself a small smile. Hook line and sinker (what that mean he didn't know - the witch hadn't gotten around to explaining it). "It is. It's said that a drop will bring extended life to any who drink it."

He mentally rolled his eyes as he saw Doumeki relax fractionally in the corner of his eye. Really. Did the idiot expect him to hand out some of his own blood when he knew what opening up a vein would do. Especially when he was well aware what someone's blood could be used for.

Not damned likely.

The creature's eyes lit up. "The sand of silence is worth more than a drop, though. A pint." The creature's eyes grew sly. "If you do not have that much, some of your own blood would do."

A near-subsonic growl filled the air. The vendor, obviously not in the same hearing range as the humans, didn't hear it but could obviously sense it. It began to shift nervously and look around the confines of the tent. The creature didn't seem to connect Doumeki's murderous glance and Himawari's restraining grip on the arm that held the bow as the source of the unsettling hostility.

Watanuki's evaluation of the thing's intelligence went down a few more notches.

"20 millitres," he countered.

The haggling continued until a price was reached. Watanuki retrieved a small vial of red liquid from a pocket of his heavy coat and handed it over in exchange for the black bag of sand. Whether it was truly life-extending blood, he didn't know. But that was what he had been told when he had bought the vial on a whim on their last traverse through the portals. A hunch that it would come in handy had urged him to pick it up.

Doumeki hadn't given up on the glaring. Perhaps the archer had been more affected by the sudden end of activities that morning more than he had thought. He was acting more territorial than he usually was.

Though he'd never admit it, Watanuki thought it rather sweet in a stupid Doumeki way. Even if it was annoying and had threatened to interrupt the bargaining session, Watanuki made a note to make pancakes again for breakfast tomorrow.

But first he'd need to get some more maple syrup.

He handed the bag of sand to the angry archer and stepped out of the tent, pausing as the others caught up with him. Doumeki glared back at the tent as he stowed the bag of sand in the compartment at the bottom of his quiver. It was the safest place to stow something and was always the destination of small valuable objects.

Watanuki eyed the avenue at the end of the street. "How about we look around a bit? We might pick up something that will come in handy later." Like some syrup. Main goal achieved, Watanuki was already back on track for the important things in life.

Doumeki gave him a narrow glance. "We should get back to the portal so you can make the exchange."

Watanuki waved a dismissive hand. "I've got both of you to look out for me. What's going to happen?"

But even as he said it he became aware of the unsettling feeling that he linked with the manifestation of a portal was growing.

The alarmed widening of Doumeki's eyes was the last thing he saw.

xXx

Well there we go - I managed to let Watanuki have some action but deprive him as well. satisfied grin So I can't be called cruel like last time. Though I suppose it was, anyway...:)

Oh, and Doumeki certainly does know what Watanuki's up to all the time. He has quite a bit of fun creating opportunities for Watanuki to ambush him ;D


	2. Bloody Sand

Watanuki finds himself stranded with a bleak wait ahead of him :)

Blood Price

II: Bloody Sand

The sudden change in terrain had Watanuki falling before he could take in his new surroundings. Automatically he tucked his chin into his chest to protect his head from a hard impact. Even so a choked gasp escaped his lips as he landed hard on his shoulder and something sharp stabbed through his jacket and into flesh.

He rolled, ripping the wound further, and got to his feet. Watanuki found himself staring at a black spine of rock protruding from pale sand. The edge glittered wetly.

Watanuki gingerly probed his shoulder and grimaced as he saw the blood coating his fingers. With the way this was going, he'd soon have every vamp in the joint after him for a drink.

If there were any vamps here.

Watanuki glanced warily around him. It certainly looked like his luck was on the slide. There was nothing but a sea of pale sand and more of the sharp black rocks. The same sight met his eyes in each direction as he turned around to survey his surroundings. It was almost like an endless sea, the black glass jutting forth from the shifting surface revealing another bleak world below.

He grimaced. Of all the places for a temporary portal to drop him, this was one of the worst.

Temporary portals weren't common but when you'd traversed the portal as much as Watanuki, running into them was inevitable. No one knew what caused them - some basic instability in the portals themselves was the best guess. But whatever the cause, it was a simple fact that sometimes objects, and that included people, winked out suddenly and returned several moments later.

The problem was that they didn't always return in the same condition in which they had disappeared.

Watanuki sighed and sat down on a patch of sand. This might take a while. One of the other problems with temporary portals was, that while it might have only been a few moments on the other side, the real length of disappearances could be hours or even days. So now that he'd just gotten the witch's sand as the expense of some blood, he was tugged here, still acting as vamp-bait if vamps existed in this place.

Watanuki eyed the pale sand and sharp black rocks. Sometimes his life just sucked.

xXx

It had been more than an hour and Watanuki was getting bored.

At first he had entertained himself by planning an extended love fest with Doumeki after he had visited the witch and gotten his vamp repellency renewed. But that had only reminded him of the sudden halt to activities that morning - which only served to get him irritated. After several minutes of fuming that resulted in kicking around a lot of pale sand, Watanuki had wisely decided to leave the making of such plans until a later date.

Preferably one where he could settle some of these frustrations by dumping Doumeki into the bath. Fully clothed so that he could peel his clothes off-

Watanuki kicked sand again for a few minutes.

A sparkle unearthed by his inadvertent excavations sent his thoughts abruptly along a different line. There was something dark and regular, clearly not part of the jagged black rock buried under the sand. With cautious curiosity, the slender man crouched down and brushed away the concealing sand.

His patience was rewarded as a small lacquered box was revealed. The glossy black container bore a looping swirl of interlocking curved lines that was laid out in thin inlays of gold leaf. Watanuki lightly touched it with a finger before carefully picking it up. It was light but the faint clicking that came from inside, told him that it wasn't empty.

He frowned at the small box sitting on his palm for a moment before pulling out a piece of cloth from one of the inside pockets of his jacket. The box was wrapped carefully before being thrust deeply into an empty pocket.

There was no doubt that the object was valuable and would yield a good price. But its presence also suggested that someone had been here before him - either this land wasn't as barren as it appeared or someone else had travelled through it and had been in too much of a hurry to retrieve their lost treasure.

Neither option was comforting.

It did, however, give Watanuki something to do. Where there was one object of worth, there were likely to be others.

For about half an hour Watanuki patiently sifted sand. By the end he had several large mounds of sand and nothing much else. It seemed that the box was the only object that had been left behind.

Watanuki sat back and retrieved the box again to examine it more closely. The lacquer was a uniform glossy black, the lines of gold leaf flawlessly applied. As he looked closer, he could make out strange symbols half hidden among the interlocking lines. The workmanship was exquisite - it was not the sort of thing that a person would simple leave behind.

He glanced around the stark sea of sand. It was eerily quiet now that he had stopped digging - there was no wind, no sounds. Just an empty landscape of pale sand and black jagged glass.

His shoulders hunched. The portal had better suck him back soon or he was going to go nuts.

xXx

Several hours later and it was beginning to get dark. The diffuse light that had lit the area was steadily draining away. Watanuki, who had tucked himself under a jagged outcrop to wait it out, hugged his arms across his chest tighter.

It was beginning to look like he was in for an extended visit to the sandpit. He only hoped that it would not be too long. While he had supplies that he hadn't touched yet (as any good portal traveller did), if it was going to be an extended sojourn, he would have to review his options.

If he returned half-dead Doumeki was going to be pissed.

There was a clatter.

Watanuki blinked in confusion even as his body tensed in preparation to move. Was there something out there? Something that only ventured out after the equivalent nightfall?

His hand rose to his shoulder. He'd bandaged it as best he could with strips torn from the end of his t-shirt but the smell of blood still hung around him. A situation that couldn't be helped unless he found a large water source.

He held himself still, eyes closed, straining to hear anything in the chilling silence. Slowly he worked a foot around to brace against the sharp rocks behind him.

Out on the flat plain of sand a white form was approaching.

Clack.

Watanuki pushed off from his shelter and was running before the rock could hit the outcrop a second time. A thud behind him told him that he had moved just in time.

The pale sand sprayed as Watanuki sped up. The shifting surface made purchase difficult and his feet sunk with every step but he concentrated on moving forward. The white dog had stopped approaching once it saw his eyes on it and was now sprinting back in the direction it had come from.

Watanuki didn't need the undefined waver of black at his side to tell him that following it would be the best idea.

The black dog snarled and Watanuki swerved aside from his course.

His coat fluttered, a large section hanging awkwardly from the narrow strip that was still attached. Watanuki swore mentally as he felt the trickle that ran down his side. He hadn't seen whatever it was until the last moment and it had shredded his heavy leather jacket with just one swipe.

Fuck.

Now that he was looking for something in the darkness he could see the dark shadows that were keeping pace, moving from outcrop to outcrop and making better time than he was. Even now as he glanced to the side he could see that more of the were gathering.

There was a sharp bark and Watanuki nearly stumbled as he abruptly changed direction to avoid the outcrop that suddenly loomed in front of him. Even as he scraped by it, part of it moved, raking at his shoulder. More leather shredded under the assault and Watanuki twisted, ripping himself free.

Sheer fright gave him the energy to put on a sudden burst of speed. The outcrop fell behind and the black dog doubled its pace to keep up at his side.

There was noise now. It was as if the scent of fresh blood only encouraged his pursuers, themselves no more than shadows in the dark. They started calling out to each other in high pitched cries that would had made their quarry shudder if he wasn't focusing on keeping his feet and increasing his speed.

He could tell by wet feel that was seeping down his side that the last wound had been a deep one. Watanuki was well familiar with how much blood he could loose and the steady flow that was sticking the t-shirt to his side was rapidly decreasing the time he had left to run.

And the escalating noise that echoed around him said that the number of whatever followed him was increasing.

God, where was Doumeki when he needed him?

But there was the white dog far ahead of him and the black at his side harrying him on. He just had to keep going. There was a way out and by god he was going to find it.

The white dog was suddenly in front of him and Watanuki nearly tripped as the sand gave way to sharp rock. His arms flung out to recall his balance only to find that one of the things was right in front of him.

They collided, the creature scratching and biting at him as he fell onto the sharp rocks. He landed on his right side, a myriad of cuts ignored as he tried to keep snapping jaws away from his jugular. Not willing to risk putting the leather collar to the test, he held it back by a grip on its neck as it raked razor claws down his chest in an effort to rip his heart out. It snarled as it struggled to move forward, its sharp little teeth visible at the short range.

In sheer desperation Watanuki clenched his hand tight and was rewarded when a sharp crack that heralded the snapping of his attacker's neck.

He staggered to his feet his, chest burning from the effort, and tossed the limp body aside. Similar shadows now moved at a cautious distance around him, a rise and fall of eerie cries echoing around him.

Damn it to hell. The little fuckers were everywhere.

The white dog disappeared with a whirl of white.

Shit!

The black dog let out a low reverberating growl that had him spinning round in growing desperation. He spotted a break in the circle of creatures closing in, a narrow gap between two jagged spears of rock. Without the guidance of the white dog, he had no choice but to chance it.

Creatures lunged at him as he burst into a run. As he closed in on the gap, a yellow dog slowly started to form in front of him, a snarl pulling back its lips from a maw of sharp teeth.

Watanuki didn't wait for it to fully materialize. He seized on an outcrop of sharp black rock, the razor edges cutting deep into his palm, and swung himself around in a quick 180.

He already had a firm policy when it came to yellow dogs.

Run like hell.

But he didn't get far this time. It seemed that his pursuers had intended to herd him into the gap they had left. Now as he abruptly refused they swarmed in.

Watanuki staggered as the creatures closed in, ripping at every part of him they could reach. The glittering arc of his knife bought some space until his grip, slick with blood and weakened by the lacerations across his palm, loosened and the weapon was wrenched from his grasp. With his weapon gone, Watanuki was left to fight bare-handed. He swung out with fisted hands and a series of powerful kicks but his long flight had cost him. As soon as some of them were flung aside, more would dart in making their best bid for their share of blood.

Watanuki fought to keep his feet as smaller creatures swarmed his legs and the larger ones darted in and out trying to distract him. Adrenaline shot through him as he realized what they were up to. He wrenched one off that was trying to hamstring him and stomped down savagely on it's head, crushing its skull.

It was still stuck on his boot, bone caught on the sole as he shifted, trying to shake off the remaining ones clinging onto his legs. They didn't have the developed claws of the larger creatures or he would have been slashed to ribbons by now. But they clung like over-sized ticks and were now biting at his jeans, worrying the thick cloth to get at the flesh beneath.

_Get off! _Doumeki had bought him these jeans. _Get off you little fuckers or I'll stomp on you good!_

He grabbed another one by the neck and twisted sharply. The resulting sharp crack! seemed to give the other creatures pause. They had fallen back at the death of the first one and stayed back waiting to see how he would deal with the others that still clung to him in an effort to bring him down. Now as the second dead creature fell to the ground they watched with glittering dark eyes, shifting shadows against the sharp black rocks at their backs.

Watanuki took a good grasp on the necks of the last two still clinging onto his legs. They had single-mindedly continued to chew and scratch in a mindless effort to reach flesh. He killed them both with a twist of his hands. The resulting sound was two loud cracks merged into one. He flung the bodies to the ground and glared at the creatures ringed around him.

_Take that you shits!_

For a long moment it was quiet, with nothing but the sound of his laboured breathing and the burning heat of his own skin. Maybe he'd killed enough of them to back off.

But the silence was soon broken by one eerie long drawn out cry. Another joined it and then another until the sound battered at him the way their claws had before.

_Ah fuck_. This didn't look good.

And it wasn't. They all came at once in a black undulating wave, no more darting forward one by one. Watanuki flung up his arms to protect his face as they hit, jaws snapping on cloth and flesh alike. They seemed to have abandoned the thought of giving him a quick death by claws in exchange for a lengthier one of being chewed to death.

Something white slowly wavered into view.

It's about bloody time.

Watanuki wrenched free from the grasping jaws, hope giving him a surge of strength, and stumbled towards the white dog. It was a movement that was more stagger than run but it broke him free. Surprise gave him a few moments of space and it was just enough.

xXx

I so need to work on my action scenes ;;


	3. Return to Civilization

In which Himawari kicks some butt and we find out why the vamps fear Doumeki so much ;)

Blood Price

III: Return to Civilization

The momentum of his flight sent him barrelling into Doumeki. The archer automatically caught him and pushed him back upright. He must have looked bad because Himawari let out a gasp and Doumeki's grip tightened on his arms.

For a moment Watanuki just let the archer support his weight as relief flooded through him. He'd made it back without dragging any of the little fuckers with him.

"Kunogi."

The sound of the familiar voice had him straightening. He wasn't in that bad a shape after all - the portal had stopped most of the damage. Now was no time to be getting all faint and useless.

Himawari blinked then nodded, shuddering as the scent of Watanuki's blood hit her nostrils. She backed up automatically a few steps before turning round and almost fleeing down the end of the alley. She stayed there, nervously stalking the narrow entrance, her arms wrapped around her waist.

Watanuki pitied anyone who ventured down the alley.

But he had his own problems.

"How bad is it?" Doumeki's mouth was a flat bloodless line and his eyes were furious.

"Just flesh wounds." It sounded ridiculous accompanied by the blood dripping from his fingers. One of the bastards had had a good chew on it, no doubt drawn but the blood drawn by his encounter with the rock pillar. But the tightening lines of Doumeki's face only served to underline how stupid his words had sounded.

But it was true. The leather collar and cuffs he had argued so vehemently against wearing that morning had saved his life. The toughened leather had held up where his jacket hadn't, and while they bore deep scratches and bite marks, they had done their job to protect his arteries. And the slight time-lapse of passing through the portal seemed to have let some of his wounds clot.

"I'm alright!" He changed it from fine at the last moment, knowing that wouldn't go down too well. "But I won't be if we just keep standing here! We have to get out of here and get back through the portal before something else comes after us."

Doumeki abruptly let him go and swung the pack off his shoulder. It slid to the ground with a thump and he threw it open to rummage through its contents. "We're not going to get far if you stay like that." His eyes narrowed as he pulled out the first aid supplies. "You're going to leave a blood trail that will lead right to us." He grabbed Watanuki's hand and began to quickly wrap it.

Watanuki kept quiet even though he was getting jittery with the urge to run. It wasn't just excess adrenaline, either. He could almost feel the danger that was growing in the air along with the scent of his blood. He could tell that the black dog was soon going to make a reappearance.

He flinched as the familiar black form swirled into being at his side.

Doumeki took one look at him and hurriedly finished the bandaging of his hand. He then repacked the bag and swung it to his shoulder. Grabbing Watanuki's other hand he started towing him along the alley to rejoin Himawari.

Watanuki stumbled to keep up, wincing slightly as the lines of fire across his chest and the deep gouges in his shoulder flared. They were mostly sealed, stuck to what remained of his t-shirt. It was true that they were flesh wounds in Watanuki's book - but that pretty much covered anything that didn't cut open arteries or reveal bone and organs.

Himawari's nostrils flared as they approached. Her pupils had narrowed to small black dots, leaving a sea of green. But despite the test of her control she remained admirably restrained as the equivalent of vamp catnip came within ten yards of her.

"We're going." Doumeki ordered, not stopping as he pulled Watanuki along. "Scout ahead."

She nodded and darted ahead of them, her two pony tails streaming out behind her as she upped her speed past human levels.

Watanuki glanced at the black dog. He supposed it was pushing his luck to hope that they'd get home unscathed.

As soon as they stepped onto the main avenue, eyes turned to their direction. Alien eyes lit at the sight of the bloody figure being dragged along the paved street.

Watanuki did his best not to hunch at the greedy regard, even though a flinch escaped him at Doumeki's tightened grip on his arm. It was worse than the vamps at home. That at least was a hunger that they couldn't control. But here every gaze held the same thoughts - exactly how much of what was left of his battered carcass would get them.

It seemed that injured travellers were thought of as fair game.

The thought pissed him off. He straightened his back, ignoring the pain that flared through his shoulder and chest, and tried to walk more normally. He wasn't about to let himself become a living trade item.

But despite his show of bravado, the familiar bright gaze of the little grey goblin thing in particularly made what was left of his blood chill. There was something about the gleam in its eyes that made him feel like he'd just been bought at auction.

Doumeki apparently agreed. Still keeping his grip on Watanuki, he shifted his bow off his shoulder and into his free hand. His glare intensified as he stared around at the beings lining the street.

Himawari waited for them at the end of the avenue. Watanuki could see by the constant clenching and unclenching of her hands that she was already dangerously angry. If there was anything that made Himawari angrier than the impulses of her own vamp blood, it was the deliberate actions of those who had a choice.

The black dog's growls grew louder.

They had almost made it when Watanuki was jerked to a halt by a grasp on his wounded shoulder. Even as he hissed at the sudden pain, Doumeki and Himawari were moving. The archer pulled him away, stepping in front of him with his bow held ready in his hands.

Himawari took it a bit further.

She accosted the being, which looked like a larger version of the grey goblin they had dealt with, and grasped the limb it still held outstretched. By the twisted expression of pain on its face, she was exerting quite a bit of pressure.

"Touch him again and die" the angry vamp hissed. She jerked the offending arm up sharply behind the being's back, making it rise on its feet to prevent the limb from being broken. From the look in her eyes, it looked like Himawari would like nothing more than to follow through with her threat.

For a moment there was a dangerous tension in the air as the vamp hovered on the edge of turning the confrontation into a blood bath. But then Watanuki felt the familiar pull of the portal began to grow at his back.

They'd made it.

xXx

As soon as they had traversed the portal they moved swiftly into the outskirts of the city. A continuous clang of metal accompanied their passage as steel shutters snapped shut. The inhabitants of the borderland knew trouble when they saw it.

Himawari scouted they way, a good fifty meters ahead of them. She was in full vamp-mode, leaping onto the roofs of low buildings and crouching on high window-sills of taller structures to get the best vantage point. The predatory way she moved underlined the precariousness of their situation. The scent of fresh blood had caused her basic instincts to rise and she was currently channelling those instincts into a defence of a fellow vamp's property (apparently the collar had several uses) rather than attacking wounded prey. Any other vamp would have already attacked him. It was only by dint of long practise at restraint that she not turned on Watanuki and torn out his throat

Doumeki might have also had something to do with it. His vamp-repellency seemed to increase when he was angry and this was one of those occasions. The bow he held tightly in one hand was also a deciding factor. While Himawari was a friend, there was no doubt that the archer would shoot her if she threatened Watanuki.

And by the way that he stuck right at Watanuki's side, there was no mistaking his intention to take out anyone who ventured too close.

With the two of them Watanuki should have been safe. And he probably would have been if this were normal circumstances.

But it wasn't. Even when there was no fresh blood, numerous vamps were attracted to the bounty that flowed in the young man's veins. And while most were warned off by the show of force that his friends provided, there were some that still persisted in attacking him every time they got the chance. Now with fresh blood on the breeze, the number of vamps willing to risk injury, even death, was on the rise. The scent of wounded prey would have all but the most restrained of vamps seeking to hunt him down.

That thought was foremost in Watanuki's mind as he walked quickly at Doumeki's side. Himawari had chosen to take them though the wide open area which had been cleared in one of the earlier invasions from the portals. It allowed no cover for an enemy to hide and provided a perfect gallery for Doumeki to pick off any vamps which showed up. Perhaps best of all, it cut the travelling time back to the apartment in half.

Watanuki could tell it was their best chance by the way that the white dog paced unconcernedly in front of them, occasionally stopping to sniff at a fallen block of concrete. There was a chance that they'd get back safety.

But even as he thought it, there was a low rumble at his side. Watanuki turned sharply to see the black dog had appeared fully formed, hackles raised as it growled deeply in its chest.

Two things happened at once then. Himawari suddenly jumped down from her perch on a half demolished building and Doumeki set an arrow to the string of his bow and drew it back in preparation to fire.

The vamps had arrived.

xXx

With a nasty crack, Himawari flung the vamp she held by the neck into a nearby wall. The force of the throw sent her unfortunate opponent several inches into the brickwork. The vamp twitched a few times but didn't move again except to slide off the wall and crumple on the ground.

But Himawari was already moving onto her next target. Another vamp had appeared in one of the side alleys and Watanuki's self-appointed defender took him out with a powerful side kick to the head. He fell to the ground, the nasty angle that his head lay on his neck suggesting that even vamp resiliency wasn't proof against a broken neck.

Immediate threat dealt with, she followed the two men who were jogging along the alley several meters ahead of her.

The next twist of the alley revealed a number of outcast vamps waiting for them. By the time they were desperately scrambling away, Doumeki's arrow had already been fired. The customary flare of power that accompanied the shot was now a conflagration and screams filled the narrow street as limbs were sheered by its fiery passage. The sounds were cut off abruptly as the arrow hit the wall behind them and detonated, blowing them to pieces.

Watanuki winced but kept at Doumeki's side as the archer jogged past the mess, readying another arrow.

They'd made it through the barren lands that spread out from the outskirts of the city. Luck and the white dog's urging had meant that they had a remarkably clear run until they hit the remainder of the city. Only a few vamps had accosted them and those had already been in the area. The wind had been blowing back to the borderlands and the scent of blood hadn't been flung ahead of them as it otherwise would have been.

The circumstances changed once they hit the built up area of the remaining city. It had been downtown before the portals but it now marked the beginning of the dwelling zone for vamps and humans alike. Accordingly, the number of attackers had risen so that Himawari was constantly fighting vamps and Doumeki had begun to use his bow.

The white dog had steered them into narrower streets where the hunting vamps could only approach them a few at time. It was an older part of the city known as the Death Traps and, as the name suggested, also had the added benefit of being outfitted to defend against vamps. Razor wires crisscrossed the air above the alleys to prevent any attacks from above (vamps had quickly leant that a dive through the wires was a messy death sentence) and the openings to the side streets were narrow and defendable.

The defendable nature of the area was one of the reasons why they had bought the apartment complex that lay less than a kilometre away. Doumeki had insisted on having a defendable route to their apartment.

Watanuki hated it when the paranoid bastard was right.

Almost as much as being useless in such a situation. Watanuki could fight to a certain degree - he wouldn't have survived for so long if he hadn't - but he was useless in current circumstances. If he moved to fight on his own, the vamps would be swarming him in moments. It was a case where his involvement would do more harm than good. So he let Himawari and Doumeki defend him and did his best to keep out of the way.

But it didn't mean that he liked it.

The alley began to straighten from its crooked path. Doumeki paused briefly to line up a shot then broke into a run, Watanuki following suit. The arrow cleared the way ahead of them, cutting through the vamps ahead of them who were too stupid or too slow to move out of the way. Leaving a wake of mutilated vamps, the arrow thudded into the wall opposite the alley entrance and exploded with a near-deafening shockwave of fire and pressure.

It must have been one of Doumeki's special arrows.

The high pitched screams that were audible as soon as their ears cleared showed that a number of vamps had been waiting for them to emerge out of the Death Traps.

There was a fast moving blur as Himawari sped up and cut past them. The abrupt cessation of screams soon after she disappeared around the corner indicated that she was clearing the way ahead of them.

Whether it was luck or something else, Watanuki was glad that it was only rogue vamps that they had encountered so far. The half-starved creatures that lived on the outskirts of the city bore little resemblance to the civilized vamps that lived in the city centre. It didn't take much for a vamp of Himawari's calibre to tear through them with a minimum of effort. But that would change if some of the local vamps joined the fray.

They reached the end of the alley and broke into an outright sprint. Watanuki ignored the line of wetness that was trickling down his side, choosing to believe it was sweat. It was only a few streets to their apartment. He and Doumeki had made various adjustments to the structure and the result was that it was practically a vamp-proof fortress when they locked it up. It would at least hold up long enough for him to get rid of the stench of blood that hung around him like a welcoming mantle.

Now they only had to get there.

The open street was a bloodbath. Limbs and bloody pieces lay over the road courtesy of Doumeki's last arrow. Himawari had added to the mess. A number of vamps, dead and still twitching, littered the path ahead of them, bright blooms of blood pooling beneath them or spraying the area around where they lay. The more forceful violence suggested that the whiff of blood she must have got as she passed them had tested her resistance. Watanuki found himself somewhat relieved that she had something to take her frustration out on.

Doumeki passed it all with barely a second glance, eyes darting around them for any vamps that Himawari might have missed. But despite her frame of mind, Himawari had been thorough and they were able to reach the street that lead to the squat concrete block that housed their apartment unimpeded. They ran warily along the street, alert for any threat now that they were so close to their goal.

But more than Himawari was waiting for them when they reached the apartment.

Himawari stood shock-still, a spray of blood bright across the pale white of her cheek as she stared across the barren land at the front of the apartment complex. Dozens of eyes stared back at her. Some of them belonged to outcast vamps but there was also an alarming number that belonged to the so-called civilized vamps who professed not to hunt down humans as part of their vow to live peacefully in the city.

Watanuki's heart stuttered in his chest, now all too aware of the warmth along his side. Apparently it _was_ blood and not sweat. Fresh blood was the only thing that could have caused the local vamps to turn too.

Doumeki fired. Three arrows in about fifteen seconds (1). The resulting blasts had the vamps scrambling. Even as Doumeki grabbed Watanuki's arm and dragged him to the apparent, Himawari darted forward intent on making the best of the confusion.

The door to the apartment was wrenched open and Doumeki shoved him roughly through the door. "Get cleaned up."

Watanuki stumbled against the foyer wall as the door slammed shut behind him. He pushed off, leaving a smear of blood on the wall behind him and stumbled down the corridor to the bathroom.

xXx

1) Very possible. The Welsh longbow men of the 16th century had a firing rate of 18 arrows per minute so Doumeki should be able to handle this no problem :)

Lethal little band aren't they? But it increases Watanuki's life expectancy.

And this could have been one long extended battle scenes but I'm not good at those.


	4. Cleaning's a Bitch

Watanuki makes a mess…

Blood Price

IV: Cleaning's A Bitch

_Stop the bleeding_. That was Watanuki's frantic thought as he rushed into the bathroom, locking the door behind him, useless as it was. With all the blood on his clothes he was practically leaving a blood wake in the air behind him.

And if the roused vamps got into the apartment the thin wood would be as effective as cardboard.

He put the plug in the bath and turned on the taps with his good hand, frantically opening them to their full capacity. The thunder of rushing water was loud in his ears but even so, he could hear the explosion as Doumeki's first arrow discharged.

_Every vamp in the area must be closing in_, Watanuki thought as he surveyed the bathroom. Even Himawari had been having a hard time restraining herself. The rogue vamps would be swarming in and now even a number of local vamps had succumbed to their thirst.

Watanuki ripped off what remained of his leather jacket. It caught on his injured arm and he ruthlessly ripped it free, ignoring the jolt of pain that shot through his shoulder.

The blood-soaked leather hit the rapidly rising water with a splash that was inaudible over the roar from the taps. The t-shirt was next. The front was basically ribbons where the jacket had failed to provide any protection. Watanuki simply ripped it apart, the ruined cloth coming apart easily in his hands, and pulled it off.

As soon as he had, he realized he shouldn't have done it. Wounds that had sealed shut onto the cloth were suddenly reopened, spilling more blood to the air.

Stupid. _Stupid! _All too aware of the explosions of arrows in the background - my god, how many did he have left? - Watanuki climbed into the tub and turned the knob to send water shooting through the showerhead instead of the tap.

He flinched as the water fell down on him in a hard insistent curtain, the air leaving his mouth in a shuddering gasp. The cold was stinging needles beating down on his exposed skin, soaking the rough bandages on his shoulder and hand, but he didn't move from the spray. All too aware of the pink tide that was steadily rising to his knees, Watanuki fumbled at his buckle and wrenched his belt off. He let it fall into the water even as he unzipped his jeans.

Stupid. He should have turned on the shower first and left some of the blood wash away down the drain. But he'd been panicking damnit, thinking about Doumeki and his dwindling stash of arrows. He hadn't been _thinking_.

Damnit

Watanuki wrestled with the wet jeans, struggling to get them off his legs without falling over. He ended up sitting on the edge of the bath, squinting against the spray from the shower, and peeling them off his legs. They were full of holes - he only realized how many when he saw all the rivets of blood from all the punctures in his legs. The little fuckers must have done the damage when they'd literally been climbing up his legs - he'd hadn't even noticed all the wounds at the time.

He'd been too distracted by the way they were chewing on his jeans.

No wonder all the vamps were out in force. He must smell like a fountain of blood.

Harshly he clawed his hands through the water, which was gaining on the bath rim, and snagged the chain that connected to the plug. It yielded reluctantly to his fierce tug and he slung it over one side of the tub so that it wouldn't be pulled back into the drain.

His t-shirt immediately headed towards the grate. Watanuki snagged it with a foot even as he turned down the taps. He stood over the drain, hunched under the water that beat down on him and guarded against the rest of his clothes as the water level slowly began to fall.

After what felt like hours but must have been only minutes, the water was half-way down his calves and was a noticeably paler shade of red. His skin was no longer streaked with red, either. As soon as the blood emerged it was washed away.

The scent of blood must have lessened too (though there was surely a trail of the stuff all through the apartment). The fierce barrage of arrows had slowed and now there were only random shots aimed at what were likely to be the few vamps which were not locals. No doubt those who had temporarily succumbed were now helping Doumeki and Himawari defend the building.

The local vamps who had chosen to live among a city of humans had a thing about being thought of as blood-thirsty monsters. They would have been embarrassed by succumbing to their blood lust and would have helped to defend the building once they came to their senses. They were funny that way.

With the water a constant swirl round his ankles, Watanuki turned up the hot water and extended a shaking arm to the medicine cabinet. It slid open easily at his touch and he began to awkwardly pull out items as he still stood under the stream of water from the shower.

Blood tinged water dripped onto the vanity.

He couldn't stay in the shower forever. Most of his injuries were flesh wounds and no longer bled as freely - or wouldn't once he applied bandages and the blood clotted. But there were a few which were still bleeding, painting him in red even under the force of the water. If he didn't patch them, he'd likely pass out and end up a walking vamp bar.

Supplies retrieved, he twisted the taps shut and got down to the business of patching himself up.

xXx

Watanuki grimaced as he surveyed the bathroom. He'd been so focused on stopping the bleeding that it wasn't until now that he noticed the mess he'd made.

Bloodstained scrunched up tissues - soaked and spotted alike - dotted the vanity. A number lay like stranded sea urchins lying on the floor. Bandaid wrappers were spilled everywhere, a cheerless confetti that informed him that he had indeed used that many plasters.

Splotches of blood where his wounds had leaked trails to the floor were everywhere. He'd stepped through them multiple times and spread the bright colour across the tiled floor.

There was even a pile of bloodstained towels that had been used as emergency patches while he rummaged for the right bandages.

He couldn't leave it looking like this or Doumeki would have a fit.

He grabbed some clean tissues and wet them under the tap. The blood on the tiles came away cleanly but the grout between them remained discoloured. He growled and tried to find something stronger to clean it.

There was a bang on the bathroom door and Watanuki jumped, spilling blood-sodden tissues on the tiled floor.

"Oi! Open up!"

Watanuki darted a frantic gaze around the bathroom. It was a total mess - it looked like some one had messily bled out their allocated four litres. Shit.

"Just a minute." It came out frustrated and he bent to grab the scattered tissues. Close proximity to the floor revealed the smears of blood along the side of the bath. They were disturbingly bright against the white tile.

Why on earth had they chosen white?

"Watanuki!" Another bang.

Impatient sod. He straightened, dumping the tissues in the overflowing bin as he tried to find something clean he could wipe the bath with. "I said, just a min-"

The door burst open and Watanuki flung his hands up to shield his face from the flying splinters.

Doumeki stood in the doorway. Watanuki only had time to register the smear of blood on one cheek, that the bow and his jacket were gone and there were rips in his t-shirt and then the other man was in the bathroom crowding him up against the side of the tub.

For a moment those gold eyes simply flicked over him, taking in the rough bandaging job, the scatter of bloodstained materials spread over the vanity and floor.

Watanuki stayed frozen, seeing the anger building in Doumeki's eyes. He wasn't afraid that the archer would hurt him - that would never happen in a million years - but the powerful emotion practically roiling off him always caught him by surprise.

Doumeki's mouth was a flat line. He lifted a hand and gently touched the rough bandages that wrapped Watanuki's right shoulder. "You've done a shit job."

Watanuki glared at him, covering up the relief that was suddenly rushing though him. "And what about you, you arsehole? What happened to your jacket?! You're supposed to shoot things from a distance not go head on with a bunch of bloody vamps!"

Doumeki had turned away and was searching for clean bandages amongst the ruin on the vanity. He ignored the complaints that were directed at his back.

"You idiot!" Watanuki had seen the series of deep gashes that cut across Doumeki's back like line of claws had raked through the flesh. "What the hell were you doing out there?!" His hands were reaching for the wound even as Doumeki turned around.

"I'm fine." The archer had a pile of semi-clean bandages in hand and placed them on a clean edge of the vanity.

"Don't give me that I'm fine bullshit!" Watanuki waved his arms, ignoring the faint light-headed feeling that filled his brain. He tilted slightly and suddenly found himself guided forcefully to sit on the edge of the bath.

"I'm fine." Doumeki's eyes glanced over the soaked clothing in the bath and pale red liquid that ran from the pile to the drain. "Now sit still and let me fix you up."

"You-"

"Watanuki." Doumeki's golden eyes were narrowed dangerously. "If you don't keep still, there'll be no sex for a week."

Watanuki shut up.

xXx

LOL - the most potent threat Doumeki could use. He certainly knows Watanuki well :)


	5. Payment and Then Some

Watanuki decides to renegotiate, Watanuki-style.

Blood Price

V: Payment and Then Some

Watanuki walked somewhat stiffly the next day as they walked across the town. Doumeki kept close by his side and periodically gave him narrow looks which he ignored.

He wasn't a bloody invalid. He was perfectly fine.

Besides he was used to a few scrapes. He'd been dealing with this for his entire life and long before Doumeki came along.

The big lug should be more concerned about himself. What on earth had he been thinking? Himawari had told him how the archer had flung himself between a vamp and the entrance to the apartment. He hadn't been able to use an arrow for fear of blasting a hole that would enable more of them to get in. Himawari had already been engaged in a no-holds-barred fight with one of the vamp outcasts.

And so Doumeki had cast himself in harm's way.

Watanuki hated it. He hated being the one who was responsible for his friends getting injured.

Especially when it was Doumeki.

He'd been thinking things over last night. Wrapped tightly in Doumeki's arms (Watanuki hadn't worked out whether it was a result of general paranoia or he wanted to prevent Watanuki from seeking the witch by himself) he'd listened to the other man's breathing as he stared up at the ceiling.

It had been close that day. When Watanuki had caught a glimpse out of the window (he knew Doumeki wouldn't let him outside) of the destruction outside, he had seen how serious the battle had been. Great craters revealed the impact points of Doumeki's arrows and dark splatters and great gouges in the surrounding buildings revealed where vamp vs vamp battles had raged.

This was the result of the first venture to seek things for the witch. Only the first.

If that hadn't been enough to sober him, the healing wounds Himawari bore and the sight of white bandages through the neck of Doumeki's t-shirt were.

His friends, his lover. They were slowly being torn to pieces as they protected him.

And being who he was, Watanuki was prepared to do whatever he could to prevent it from happening again.

To a back ground of slow steady breathing, Watanuki started laying plans.

He misjudged the terrain and tripped. Doumeki caught him with hands around his waist to avoid the bandages on his shoulders and chest. Watanuki placed his hands on the archer's chest and thrust himself back onto his feet with a glare. Bloody pavement.

"Are you alright Watanuki-kun?" Himawari was suddenly at their side, her face all concern. There was no sign of the bloodthirsty valkyrie of the day before.

She had been appalled when she finally saw the slender man emerge from the bathroom covered in bandages (making Watanuki feel somewhat better about yielding to Doumeki's wishes - his own attempts would have been a lot more alarming). She had insisted on staying the night and accompanying them to the shop of the over-endowed witch.

Watanuki had accepted the offer. If Himawari was with them, it was likely that Doumeki would take it easier and not strain himself. It would be like the idiot to let his paranoia wear him down into a useless nub.

He was certain that Doumeki had accepted the aid for different reasons but Watanuki didn't care. Ultimately the archer had some back up and that was that.

"I'm fine." Watanuki gave her a smile. "I just tripped."

Himawari smiled, obviously reassured.

Doumeki shot him a look and went back to scanning their surroundings. But he still stuck close to Watanuki's side. They were reaching the area near the portals now and it was obvious that Doumeki didn't intend to be left behind if a temporary portal should manifest.

Watanuki had to admit he'd rather not repeat the experience he'd had yesterday.

His wariness made him jump when the dog suddenly materialized. Doumeki already had his bow in hand by the time the guide had finished forming.

Watanuki laid a hand on his arm. "It's white."

The white dog's mouth hung open in a canine grin as it surveyed them all. It was as cheerful as ever and didn't seem to care about the fact that it's master had nearly died the last time it had appeared. Waving the plume of its tail, it turned and started to trot ahead of them, winding between the blocks of fallen concrete that still lay in the street.

Watanuki followed after it, disregarding the wary looks Himawari and Doumeki exchanged. He was determined to meet the witch again.

This time he was resolved to ensure that everything went his way.

xXx

"Welcome! Welcome!" The two little girls that had dragged him inside the last time opened the door and stood either side of the entrance way.

"Hello girls." Watanuki patted them on the head and gave them a big smile. "How's your mistress going?"

The girls exchanged glances.

Watanuki dropped the act. "Look kids. Has she had a bit to drink or not?"

"Beer!" The pink haired girl exclaimed.

"Kirin beer!" The blue haired one chipped in.

Watanuki grinned. So the witch was well on her way to getting sloshed. It should make his job easier.

"Why don't you get another glass and I'll join her." The weight of the vodka in his pocket was reassuringly hefty. He had no doubt the witch would be drinking a fair bit of it.

"Another glass!"

"Join her!"

The two girls skipped around him as he stepped inside. He glanced back momentarily toward the fence but he couldn't see either Himawari or Doumeki. No doubt the latter was good and angry. He'd probably have to cook dinner to get the bastard clamed down enough for desert.

Maybe then he could prove how uninjured he really was.

He retraced the path the girls had dragged him along on his first visit. Despite himself he had to grin at their antics as they pranced along the corridor ahead of him. Their cries of "drinks! drinks!" was a lot more kind on his ears than the sounds he'd heard the last few days.

Finally they reached the familiar sliding doors with the crescent painted across them both. The girls grabbed a panel each and pulled them back enthusiastically. Watanuki stepped inside the room beyond without any further invitation.

The witch was lying on the couch, a pipe in her mouth and smoke rising to the roof in a steady thickening coil. An eye slowly opened and regarded him for a moment before shutting once more.

So that was how it was going to be played. Watanuki walked over to the couch and sat down next to it cross-legged. He retrieved the vodka with his good hand and set the bottle onto the floor with a thunk. "Got some glasses?"

The witch's eyes opened, moving to the bottle, and the pipe left her mouth. "Even gifts require an exchange."

Watanuki shrugged and screwed off the lid. "Put it on my tab."

She seemed to consider that for a moment and finally sat up. No tit show today. The witch seemed to have abandoned the ploy once she'd found out that it had no effect on him. "Maru."

The blue haired girl left the room with a delighted squeal. A chant of "another glass! another glass!" faded as she retreated. Watanuki felt another surge of warmth for his little accomplice.

"I see that the dampening effect has worn off." Her eyes flicked over the bandages and the improvised sling. "But once a wish is made, it cannot be undone."

The little girl returned with the glass before he could reply. He accepted it with a nod of thanks and set it down on the floor in front of him. It was far cry from a shot glass but it would do. He snagged the other glass half-hidden under the couch and began to pour for both of them.

"I don't want to undo a wish." He stopped pouring with the glass half-full. He moved onto the witch's glass and poured the same amount. "I want to make some more." He handed the glass to the witch with his good hand and then took up his own.

Watanuki raised an eyebrow as he saw the witch hadn't drunk from her glass. He lifted his own to his lips and downed the contents in one go. The oily liquid slid down his throat and hit his stomach with a warm burn. He set the glass down and began to pour some more.

An empty glass was held out to him before he could finish. Apparently, for all her talk of exchange, the witch didn't want to miss out on her share.

Watanuki filled the glass and put the bottle down so he could pick up the glass with his good hand. "I didn't catch your name the first time."

A smile spread across the witch's lips as she took the offered drink. "Ichihara Yuuko." Her smile widened. "But you can call be Yuuko." She lifted the glass to her lips and tilted it back, emptying it of the contents in one go. The glass was held out again once more.

Watanuki took it with a glance at the bottle. The level of vodka was just below the neck but he suddenly had the feeling that it wouldn't last long. Best to get to business.

He set the glass down and retrieved the black bag in the pocket of his new jacket instead. "Your bag of sand." He handed it over.

She hefted in one hand. "This is acceptable as the next instalment of your payment." Her look became sly. "But further wishes will require more." She handed the bag to one of the girls who came up to her side. The pink-haired one, this time.

Watanuki refilled her glass to give himself time to think. He set the bottle down but instead of handing over the glass he withdrew the black lacquered box from another pocket and set it down with a click.

Yuuko's eyes widened and she sat up. "Where did you get this?"

"A temporary portal." Watanuki didn't go into anymore details. He could tell that it was important and information was currency.

The witch's eyes narrowed as she turned her gaze back to him. "It is a valuable object."

"Valuable enough for more wishes?"

Her face bled dry of any expression. "What do you suggest?"

"An extension of this" he tapped the tattooed arm "to allow for time to search for what you want. It's no use if it doesn't last long enough." He picked up his untouched glass. "And I want a list of the items you want as repayments so I can go searching for them anytime." He poured the vodka down his throat. "And one more thing," he met her solemn eyes. "I don't think I need to say what."

Her eyes moved from his face to the box and back again. "The price is sufficient." She gestured to one of the girls who picked the box up reverently and started to carry it carefully out of the room.

Watanuki set down his glass and picked up the full one still sitting on the floor. He handed the glass to the witch. "Yeah. One more thing."

Yuuko raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any maple syrup?"

A smile that could only be called evil crawled across the woman's face. "For the right price."

xXx

Watanuki walked through the wooden posts that marked the entrance of the witch's house. Immediately Doumeki and Himawari were in front of him. They must have been waiting at the exact spot where he had disappeared.

"Watanuki-kun!" Himawari's eyes were wide as she realized that she no longer felt the pull of his blood.

Doumeki narrowed his eyes.

Watanuki waved a hand at him. "It's all good for another three months. The witch has given me a list so we can go searching without suddenly getting swarmed by vamps."

"That's wonderful, Watanuki-kun!" His friend was obviously happy not to have to deal with a situation similar to what had happened yesterday in the future.

Doumeki didn't seem as pleased. He was staring suspiciously at the empty lot. It obviously didn't sit well with him to be left out of negotiations. Either that or his paranoia, which had subsided so nicely over the last month, was beginning to return.

Watanuki resisted the urge to kick him. It wouldn't achieve anything and would likely only hurt his foot. Besides, Watanuki still had plans for latter on.

He turned and began walking, confident that Doumeki would follow.

The bottle of maple syrup was a sly weight in his jacket pocket.

xXx

So as I promised: sexual frustration, violence and swearing. Hopefully it was violent enough (though I doubt it :).

And will there be more? Possibly - okay probably. But not for a while (and that will be a separate story). Vampirebait takes a while to get into. Beside you all wants some more lord and prince, don't you? I for one, need to back to a more genteel universe for a while ;D


End file.
